The use of non-caloric high intensity sweeteners is increasing due to health concerns relating to increased levels of childhood obesity, type II diabetes, and related illnesses. Although natural caloric sweetener compositions such as sucrose, fructose, and glucose provide the most desirable taste to consumers, they are caloric. Therefore, alternative non-caloric or low-caloric sweeteners have been widely used as sugar or sucrose substitutes. However, these sucrose substitutes possess taste characteristics different than that of sugar (e.g. saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose) and exhibit undesirable taste characteristics (e.g., non-sugar like aftertastes).
Thus, there is need to provide a non-caloric or low-caloric condiments with a more sugar-like taste. High-potency sweeteners are generally non-caloric; however, they exhibit sweet tastes that have a different temporal profiles, maximal responses, flavor profiles, mouthfeels, and/or adaptation behaviors than that of sugar. For example, the sweet tastes of high-potency sweeteners are slower in onset and longer in duration than the sweet taste produced by sugar and thus change the taste balance of a food composition. Because of these differences, use of a high-potency sweetener to replace a bulk sweetener, such as sugar, in a food or beverage, causes an unbalanced temporal profile and/or flavor profile. In addition to the difference in temporal profile, high potency sweeteners generally exhibit (i) lower maximal response than sugar, (ii) off tastes including bitter, metallic, cooling, astringent, licorice-like taste, etc., and/or (iii) sweetness which diminishes on iterative tasting. It is well known to those skilled in the art of food/beverage formulation that changing the sweetener in a composition requires re-balancing of the flavor and other taste components (e.g., acidulants). If the taste profile of high-potency sweeteners could be modified to impart specific desired taste characteristics to be more sugar-like, the type and variety of compositions that may be prepared with that sweetener would be significantly expanded. Accordingly, it would be desirable to selectively modify the taste characteristics of high-potency sweeteners.
Thus, there is a need for a condiment composition comprising non-caloric or low-caloric natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweeteners and methods thereof There is an additional need in the art to provide a condiment composition comprising non-caloric or low-caloric natural and/or synthetic high-potency sweeteners with a more sugar-like taste and methods thereof.